Facebook Launches Profile Frames to Encourage Covid-19 Vaccination

Facebook has launched a campaign to encourage Covid-19 vaccination with its new profile photo features for Instagram and Facebook users.

Facebook is collaborating with the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to launch the new profile frames.

The giant social media said the following in a blog: “The new frames will let you share your support for COVID-19 vaccines and see that others you respect and care about are doing the same.”

“By working closely with national and global health authorities and using our scale to reach people quickly, we’re doing our part to help people get credible information, get vaccinated, and encourage others to do the same so we can come back together safely.

Research shows that social norms can have a major impact on people’s attitudes and behaviors when it comes to their health. We know people are more likely to get a vaccine when they see many people they trust are doing it,” Facebook added.

Given the social media channel has one of the largest user bases in the world, this move could prove an effective push – which Facebook is looking to further expand upon with another element in its vaccination promotion effort.

Related: Facebook Makes it Easier to View a Non-Algorithmic News Feed

In the coming weeks, Facebook will show you a summary in your News Feed of your friends, family members, and people you follow who are using the COVID-19 vaccine profile frames.

“I got my Covid-19 vaccine”

The new Facebook profile frames carry the messages: “I got my Covid-19 vaccine” and “Let’s get vaccinated.”

Facebook will also show a summary of the people who are using the Covid-19 vaccine frames in the News Feed. Facebook had recently partnered with National Health Services (NHS) in the UK to launch the Covid-19 vaccine frames.

Almost a quarter of people on Facebook in the UK are already using the profile frame.

“Let’s get vaccinated”

On Instagram, there’s a “Let’s get vaccinated” sticker that can be used in Stories. The new sticker is visible on the Instagram app globally.

Facebook says that such participation from friends and family can have a positive effect on people, and it can lead to more people getting the Covid-19 vaccination.

That peer element, as noted, can have a big impact, and previous Facebook research has underlined the value of similar pushes in encouraging participation.

Vaccine resistance still remains a major cause for concern as the world move into the next stage of the global roll-out, with ongoing speculation around the make-up of the treatment, and its potential impacts, still rife among medical misinformation groups and pseudoscience proponents.

Medical experts agree that using social media platforms to encourage the masses to get vaccinated is the best way forward, and the most effective, and safest way to get the global economy back to normal life as soon as possible.

As such, it’s important for social platforms, which provide the greatest reach between individuals, to implement initiatives like this to encourage take-up.

It may seem like a small step, in relative terms, but its impact could be significant.

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